Volleyball Looks to Separate from UCSB and Cal Poly

Fullerton, Calif. -
The Titans look to set themselves apart from the other second place teams this weekend as they take on UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly starting tonight in Isla Vista at 7:30 p.m.

Fullerton, Santa Barbara and Cal Poly all sit at 4-3 in the Big West, trailing Long Beach State by 1.5 games in the standings.

Last weekend it was a tale of two teams as Fullerton split its two matches with a loss to Pacific and a win over UC Davis, snapping a three-match losing streak.

A rough passing night and numerous serving mistakes led to a quick 24-26, 23-25, 19-25 loss to the Tigers. Kayla Neto had 13 kills, 11 digs and four blocks to lead the Titans statistically, but the highlight of the night for Fullerton was setter Andrea Ragan. The senior became the school's all-time leader in assists in the middle of the first set. She finished the night with 3,930 career assists and is poised to become the first Titan setter to reach the 4,000-assist plateau.

Titan fans saw a complete turn-around in effort and energy on Saturday night as Fullerton swept a hot UC Davis squad, 25-22, 25-21, 25-22. Kayla Neto (15 kills, 7 digs, 2 blocks), Leah Maurer (13 kills, .300, 2 aces) and Bre Moreland (12 kills, 9 digs) combined for 40 of the Titans' 47 kills. Ayana Whitaker, who had played in just two matches all year and not since opening weekend, had four kills and three blocks. &\#8232;

VERSUS THE GAUCHOS: Fullerton is just 7-55 all-time against Santa Barbara dating back to their first meeting in 1982. All seven of the Titans' wins have come in the last six seasons (since 2006) where they have won seven of the last nine contests. Over the last nine games, the Titans have played four road matches against the Gauchos and have won three of them. Last year the Titans defeated the Gauchos in both matches for the first time in the history of the program. The Titans lost the first 51 consecutive matches against the Gauchos. The Titans defeated the Gauchos, 3-2, back on Sept. 24 at Titan Gym. Fullerton is just 3-25 all-time on the road against Santa Barbara.

VERSUS THE MUSTANGS: The Titans are just 8-43 all-time against the Mustangs dating back to 1981. Cal Poly defeated Fullerton the first 21 times they met before the Titans snapped the streak with back-to-back victories in 1996 and 1997. The Mustangs then won 22 of the next 23 meetings before the Titans current string of five consecutive wins that go back to 2009. The Titans upended the Mustangs back on Sept. 23, 3-0, in Titan Gym. Fullerton is just 2-20 all-time in Mott Gym.

AROUND THE BIG WEST:Leah Maurer has moved into the Top 10 in hitting percentage, ranking 9th with a .271 mark... Kayla Neto ranks fourth in kills per set, averaging 3.89 per frame. She also ranks fifth in the conference 258 total kills... Andrea Ragan ranks third in the league in both total assists (676) and assists per set (10.40). Ragan is currently setting around one assist less per set than her career average of 11.30... Amanda Yamate is scooping up 4.22 digs per set and ranking fifth in the league despite not having played in the last five Titan matches.

THERE'S A NEW ASSIST LEADER IN TOWN: Last Friday (Oct. 14) senior setter Andrea Ragan became the Titans' all-time leader in career assists midway through the first set against Pacific. She finished the night with 31 assists and 3,930 in her career, breaking Julie Geissert's old mark of 3,907. Ragan upped her total the next night with 40 assists against UC Davis and will continue to raise the bar until her final match of the year. She is poised to become the first Titan to reach the 4,000 assist plateau this weekend.

NETO BANDITO: Neto has moved passed Alex Wolnisty on the career kill list aand now sits in the No. 9 spot with 926 career spikes. She is within 28 kills of the No. 7 all-time spot in CSF history. In the dig department, Neto has more than doubled her career totals this year alone and is second on the team (by six digs) with 214 digs.

CONFERENCE WINS: Before last year's break out season that saw the Titans go 14-2 in the Big West, the Titans had never won more than nine in a single season. Currently, the Titans are 4-3 in 2011 and have won 12 of their last 15 league matches and 18 of their last 23. The Titans are also 16-6 in their last 20 conference home matches. Fullerton has lost each of its last two road conference tilts (Oct. 1 and Oct. 8 vs. Northridge and Long Beach, respectively.)

ZIMMERMAN NEARING WINNING RECORD: Tenth-year Head Coach Carolyn Zimmerman (143-147) is just four games below .500 for her career and sits just a mere five straight wins away from becoming the Titans' first coach to achieve a winning record more than nine matches in to their career. She is already the winningest coach in school history, but could become the first coach to hold a winning record since both Fran Cummings (1980-1988) and Jim Huffman (1989-91) were 5-4 in their first seasons of skippering the Titans. Zimmerman is just eight wins away from victory No. 150 in her career. Zimmerman's three predecessors (Cummings, Huffman and Mary Ellen Murchison) totaled 185 combined wins.

DOUBLE DOWN:Kayla Neto, Bre Moreland and Andrea Ragan are the only Titans to tally double figures in two statistical categories in a match this year. Neto and Moreland have done it in kills and digs, Ragan has done it in assists and digs. Neto leads the team with 11 double-doubles. Moreland is right behind her with nine. Moreland has produced double-doubles in six of her last 12 matches and set career-highs in digs (Sept. 24 vs. UC Santa Barbara, 22) and kills (Sept. 16 vs. BYU, 18). Neto has double-double in 8 of her last 12 matches. Ragan has four double-doubles in her last six matches.